Protect our Pension Fund

As a follow up to our previous messages on the operations of the Pension Fund, we regret to inform you that unfortunately the delays in the processing of the pensions or retiring staff are still at an unacceptable level. We are even more troubled, that efforts are underway that could jeopardize the financial base needed for current and future pensions. We therefore join our sister federation CCISUA to sign a petition to protect our Pension Fund. The message and a link to the petition is reproduced below.

Act Now to protect our pension fund!

• Proposed financial rules remove pension fund from the United Nations and allow liberal outsourcing to banks and hedge funds.
• This is backed by new human resources policy that reduces independence of staff who manage our money and exacerbates climate of fear inside Fund.
• No result yet from investigation into allegations of fraud by the CEO.
• Pension payment delays remain significant despite claims to the contrary.
• To protect our retirement income, unions call on Board members to block new financial rules, on Secretary-General to rescind human resources changes

On 17 July, the board of the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund, meeting in Vienna, will be asked to consider new financial rules (https://www.unfsu.org/documents/DraftFinancialRules.pdf) that remove the Fund from the UN and allow investments to be outsourced to banks and hedge funds with no procurement process required.

This comes as the pension fund CEO, Sergio Arvizu, has obtained new flexibilities in how he manages his staff, giving him space to favour those who turn a blind eye to internal rules and procedures and retaliate against those who don’t, thus further removing the fund from the UN.

Up to now our fund of 250 staff has operated effectively and conservatively under the UN financial regulations. If the new rules are approved, it will become difficult to prevent the outsourcing of investments. Our $50 billion in assets at the Fund would generate tens of millions of dollars in fees for banks and hedge funds – money that should be going to us, the staff. In doing so, our fund risks joining the many other public sector pension funds that lost money in Wall Street.

It is important that the 33 members of the board, entrusted with our money, listen to us. Twice the CEO has tried to increase his powers in the Fund, twice You the staff have campaigned to block him. Now he is trying again with a series of measures whose cumulative effect will be damaging to the fund. We need to stand firm and defend our interests and our future.

• Refuse the new financial rules that remove the fund from the UN and allow outsourcing of investments.
• Protect the independence of fund staff by rescinding the new human resources policy.
• Pay new retirees on time.